Customer relationship management (CRM) is critical for any organization seeking to leverage valuable interactions with the customer base. As more and more professionals are mobile, the availability of cloud CRM to enable access to real-time information is critical. 

A recent Soffront blog highlighted the growing demand for cloud CRM by focusing on the results of a recent IDC (News - Alert) study. A five year forecast of the world’s mobile workforce provided in this study suggests an enormous impact on CRM, raising the stakes for cloud CRM throughout the global market. 

According to Sean Ryan, research analyst for IDC’s Mobile Enterprise group, mobility continues to play a key role in enabling innovative organizations to achieve greater productivity worldwide. IDC expects the global mobile worker population to increase to more than 1.19 billion in 2013, from 919.4 million in 2008. This growth represents a 35 percent increase in the global workforce, creating significant opportunity for cloud CRM. 

The IDC report, the Worldwide Mobile Worker Population 2009-2013 Forecast, found that the United States actually has the highest percentage of mobile workers in its workforce as 72.2 percent was reported as mobile in 2008. “The U.S. will remain the most highly concentrated market for mobile workers with 75.5 percent of the workforce, or 119.7 million workers, being mobile in 2013,” stated the report. 

Estimates by Gartner (News - Alert) support these projections as the company suggests that 90 percent of organizations will support corporate applications – including cloud CRM – on mobile devices by 2014. Implementing and supporting cloud CRM will be critical for any company seeking to stay on the cutting edge. The key – the workforce and the sales force automation have to be mobile. 

A number of businesses today are providing employees with mobile phones and an increasing number of departments are being outfitted with 4G smartphones and even tablets. This is truly the future of CRM – it’s moving to the cloud and those ready to embrace cloud CRM are those who will lead in their respective industries. When embarking on an opportunity to embrace cloud CRM, you need a viable partner to provide the right platform and the necessary support. 

Soffront offers its mobile CRM platform that includes real-time information pushed out to your sales force via the Soffront iPhone (News - Alert), Soffront Android, Soffront BlackBerry, Soffront PDA, Soffront Laptop and Soffront WAP. The explosion in the cloud is really just beginning. If you want to stay ahead of the competition and keep your sales force “in the know”, it’s time to leverage cloud CRM capabilities.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Juliana Kenny